In The News

Hong Kong Leader Yields to Protests: New York Times

Keith Bradsher and Alexandra Stevenson June 15, 2019
A series of protests, including a moving candlelight vigil by mothers of young protesters, convinced Hong Kong’s chief executive to back off from swift imposition of a law allowing extradition of citizens to mainland China. “It was a remarkable reversal for [Carrie] Lam, the leader installed by Beijing in 2017, who had vowed to ensure the bill’s approval and tried to get it passed on an unusually...

Modi and India’s Muslims? Al Jazeera

Sudipto Mondal June 9, 2019
In the aftermath of his party’s convincing election victory, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to push the issue of decreasing inclusion and representation by the substantial Muslim minority to the spotlight. History shows that the rise of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has led to increasing violence against Muslims in recent years. Muslim leaders do not trust Modi’s...

Istanbul Rerun and Turkey’s Future: Foreign Policy

Can Selçuki May 13, 2019
Turkey’s Supreme Election Council ruled that Istanbul will hold another mayoral election, invalidating a previous win for Ekrem Imamoğlu, the opposition candidate from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP. That outcome was a setback for AKP, the ruling party. Can Selçuki argues in Foreign Policy that the council’s decision places Turkish democratic elections in peril. Selçuki writes that Turkey...

Viktor Orbán’s War on Intellect: Atlantic

Franklin Foer May 12, 2019
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Hungary was eager to join its Western European peers and was host to some of the best universities. Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister in the early part of this century and again since 2010, is on a mission to systematically stamp out the intelligentsia elite class that he views as an anathema to the right-wing populist policies of his Fidesz party. Public...

Ukraine’s New President: Washington Post

Konstantin Ash and Miroslav Shapovalov May 1, 2019
Comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky won Ukraine’s presidential election in a landslide, with some crediting his role as a fictional president in the television show “Servant of the People.” Zelensky's pattern of support upended a divide in place over the past 20 years. “Analysts often depict Ukraine’s politics as a constant struggle between a pro-European West and pro-Russian East,”...

Ethiopia’s Media, Ethnic Tensions: Washington Post

Paul Schemm April 28, 2019
Ethiopia is undergoing tremendous transformation as the newly installed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pushes for broad free speech rights. This has led to a resurgence of a free press and outspoken journalists. The country, only recently embarking on its journey to mend ethnic conflicts and land disputes, faces a dilemma between social stability and free speech protection. Ethiopia will hold an...

Algerian Protests Continue: Washington Post

Massinissa Benlakehal and Sudarsan Raghavan April 26, 2019
In the weeks since Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s resignation, the country continues to witness widespread upheaval in pursuit of democracy. Algerians expect more than a change in top leadership. “Protesters are more emboldened in seeking a dismissal of the remaining vestiges of the political order that has governed the country since it won independence from France in 1962 – and that...